


How to Get Recognized

by Mama May-Eye (Mama_May_Eye)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Arguing, Bickering, Bossy Ladonia, Friendship, Funny, Gen, List, Plan-gone-bad, Sassy Sealand, episodic, micronations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 19:58:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5511038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mama_May_Eye/pseuds/Mama%20May-Eye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ladonia's been having trouble getting recognized as his own country. Sealand, being a good friend, decides to take it upon himself to help Ladonia get recognition from good old Papa Sweden. Whether Ladonia wants it or not. No slash.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ladonia sighed as he sat in a painting posted on a popular image-hosting site. He was so bored and there was nothing he wanted to do online. Not that he could do much, anyway. Being an online micronation founded on the Internet can be interesting at first, but it obviously had its drawbacks. For one, he couldn't do any awesome things like create viruses or hack people's accounts. And he was limited in the places on the Internet he could go – free (and monitored) image sites were just some of the few he could visit. The most freedom he had online was his home page (and country).

He sighed again. It was tough to project himself into the outside world. Forcing his way outside had never yielding much result, so he had to rely on other means – his trusty personal computer, which made it much easier for him to go outside than trying it on other, strangers' computers. Most of the time he had a backup power source to always keep his laptop running and powered on so that he could always leave the Internet realm when he wanted to. The last time he was aware, his laptop was still on and running, the backup battery being charged away from the laptop. Therefore, he was surprised when he couldn't project outside in order to get some fresh air outside of his country. It was obvious the laptop had either closed on its own or the power had been shut off. Jumping to an online weather map of Sweden, Ladonia realized with a sinking feeling just how much it had stormed the night before when he had been playing some online games by himself.

So that's why…. Lightning must have struck the tiny house he was staying in and shut off all electrical power. …Well, shit! Now he really was stuck until he either got power back or someone came along. But it had been hours since the storm and if the power had not come back on its own already, it most likely wouldn't any time soon. And he lived so far away from anyone….

So, back to the beginning. Now he was stuck in his country while his laptop was possibly dead, no hope of any outside assistance, and a personal dilemma on his hands. Luckily, he could access still access the Internet, and, by default, his e-mail account. Sending an e-mail to the electrical company proved to yield no results so far. What the hell were those guys doing? Wiping their asses? He was stranded, here! Sure, his country was awesome (He was on the damn _Internet_! How cool is that?), but he wanted _outside_ , dammit! He spammed them with a few more messages before giving up. Either the Internet connection was especially slow or they were busy. Maybe he wasn't the only one who lost power thanks to the thunderstorms. If that was the case, he could be waiting quite a while before they repaired his power. Sometimes it sucked to live so far away. He was now regretting it a little bit, if only to contact someone for help in plugging in his laptop's backup battery.

He placed his chin in his hand as he contemplated this problem. He could wait. And wait. And wait. _Or_ …he could contact "someone" for help. He really didn't want to do the latter one – he'd probably get laughed at for his predicament. But what were the other choices? He was already impatient – he didn't think he could wait any longer.

With a huff, he jumped back to his e-mail account, typing out a message as quickly as if he was speaking it himself. This, at least, he could do easily. He'd just have to swallow his pride… _again_. Finishing and frustrated at having to ask for help, Ladonia pressed "send" as hard as the webpage would allow him – which wasn't hard at all. Darn Internet. Luckily, it didn't take long for a response.

vwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvw

Sealand was reclining in the chair of Sweden's home, eating a cookie and leaning so far back that he was one motion away from tilting over, chair and all. Currently, he was playing a game on his recently-acquired phone – the latest! His parents, Finland and Sweden, were out to get food for dinner. A jingle suddenly sounded from the device in his hands. Startled, he jumped at the sound and proceeded to topple over onto the floor. He groaned at his descent and clicked on the e-mail he had received once he righted himself and the chair.

Oh! It was from Ladonia! Sweet! Sealand hadn't spoken to the younger micronation in ages, though not from lack of trying on his part. Scanning the e-mail, he blinked in surprise. Then re-read it slowly. Well, that was a weird problem to have. But nothing the great Sealand couldn't handle! Hurriedly, he scampered to the window and looked out. It wasn't raining now, but thunderstorms and rain were sure to start up again soon.

Sealand grinned as he felt a plan coming along. He had been trying to get Ladonia to stay with them since they met. Ladonia needed to see that Sealand's Papa Sweden wasn't all that bad. Thanks to the weather, this could be the perfect scenario to get the stubborn personification into close quarters. He did an air fist at his pure genious-ness. And maybe the lone micronation could get some "recognition" of his own along the way.

Sealand grasped his phone, typed a reply, and sent it on his way out of the door. He knew exactly where Ladonia "lived" and thankfully it wasn't that far away. He'd be there and back before the weather turned bad again.

vwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvw

Ladonia sat there on his home page for what seemed like forever, twiddling his fingers. He had attempted to chat with the people of his country, but due to lack of any official message board, he'd been forced to give up that endeavor quickly. This was so boring! When was he- ?

Ladonia paused as a sudden flash lit up the screen. With a mounting sense of relief, he listened to the brief jingle that signaled his computer's return to life as the battery button blessed him with a "now charging" symbol. The corners of his eyes filled with happy tears.

"Hi, Ladonia!"

Damn it.

He glanced up to the screen in front of him. Sealand's face now encompassed the entire thing, making Ladonia feel like a mouse being studied by a cat. He always hated this feeling.

"Hey, punk, turn on the laptop so I can leave."

"How did this happen, anyway?" Sealand ignored Ladonia as if he hadn't spoken. "You usually have a back-up always ready, right? Has this happened before?"

"Hey! I _said_ , turn it _on_ so I can get _out_."

"If you lived with us, like I invited you to that one time, this wouldn't have happened. Ha ha!"

"Are you even listening to me!"

Sealand placed his head in his hand. "I'm listening. But I want to do something first; I want to make a deal with you. …Interested?"

Ladonia, who was getting tired of being ignored and about to hurt much more than Sealand's feelings (somehow), stopped short. "…A deal?"

Sealand grinned excitedly. "Yeah! You want to hear it? Only the great Sealand can come up with a plan this grand!"

"Um-"

"So, here's what we do!"

"Let me _finish-_!"

Sealand held up a finger. "First, you have to come with me to my house. Then, you have to stay there until I say you can leave."

Ladonia smirked at the fort's stupidity. "And why in the hell would I do that?"

"Because! I'm going to help you get recognized as a country from Papa Sweden. And, with me there, you won't have to worry about your power going out – since, you know, it's going to storm some more soon."

At that, Ladonia looked worriedly out of the screen to the window behind Sealand's head. He was right; it looked like it was going to rain any second now. Pulling up a weather map merely confirmed what the micronation in front of him was saying. With a sigh, he faced forward again. He didn't want charity and it certainly sounded like that was Sealand's motive. After all, what did the other have to gain from this? He asked Sealand as much.

"Well," Sealand drummed his finger on the desk in front of him, "I think we could be good friends but you never want to visit."

"Of course not."

"This is a good opportunity to get to know each other."

"So…what, all you want is 'friendship' or something?"

"Yeah!"

"Screw off! I'm fine on my own!"

"Aw! Ladoniaaa! Don't be like thaaat!"

"Stop whining! You're so annoying."

They continued back and forth for a while with Sealand attempting reason and Ladonia suspecting charity-like or underhanded reasons. Finally, with a warning rumble outside deciding it, Sealand packed up Ladonia's personal items and technology…

"Stop touching my _stuff_! What the hell do you think you're doing!"

…and totally saved his compliant and willing friend by selflessly transporting him to Sealand's home where they would have lots of fun and get to be best friends forever. The end for now.

vwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvw

"Okay. You have been on that phone typing whatever for the last ten minutes. What are you writing?"

Sealand glanced up as he saved the diary entry on his phone. "Nothin'." He hastily closed his phone.

Ladonia sighed in frustration from his spot on Sealand's bed – still unable to actually get _out_ of the computer because the jerk in front of him still refused to turn _on_ the laptop. "You know you kidnapped me. I e-mailed the police on your ass. You're going to jail, jail-bait."

Sealand continued nonchalantly texting (he was contacting Wy for advice on his future plan). "No, you didn't. You already told me the police won't respond to any e-mails you send them anymore."

"I did?"

"Yeah. About two months ago."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

Ladonia glanced forlornly at his laptop battery placed away from him on Sealand's desk. So close, yet so far. He was so going to _smother_ this fool with a pillow or something once he got out. Ladonia focused on Sealand again when the latter snapped his cell phone shut with a decisive flick.

Sealand gave him a triumphant grin. "So, I've been talking to Wy and we've thought of a couple of plans to get you recognized."

"That's all well and good, but how come none of this has never worked for you?"

Sealand shrugged. "I'm already recognized by the Nordics. It's only a matter of time before others recognize me, too." He pointed lightly at Ladonia. "But _you_ aren't recognized by anyone. We're going to change that."

Ladonia's hackles had risen as Sealand started to speak but he calmed after he finished the last sentence. "How would getting recognition from your jerk dad help me any?"

Sealand rolled his eyes. "Because –"

"You just roll your eyes at me, punk?"

"Ahem! _Becaaause_ if one country recognizes you, others will, too!" He lifted his chin proudly. "I'm recognized by at least eighteen countries as of right now."

"Wha-! Eigh _teen_? You're lying."

"I am not! …Anyway, you and I are going to work at getting my dad to recognize you as your own country! First, we just have to follow," he held up his cell phone, "the list that I have on here. Me and Wy put it together today."

"You mean put together after you kidnapped me?"

"After I saved you, yes. We're gonna' get started on it right away – you'll be recognized in no time, Ladonia!" Sealand grinned at him excitedly, and Ladonia had to admit, he was getting a little excited as well. He'd yet to be taken even semi-seriously by the others and he was beginning to feel that even his fellow micronations were forgetting him. He pushed them away, yes, but he always came to the meetings (after they spammed him with invites and he stormed over there to yell at them to _stop it_ but that wasn't the point). With Sealand's attention to his plight, Ladonia was beginning to "see the light" so to speak…in a non-fatal way.

Ladonia felt his lips twitch upwards in a not-quite smile. "Well, I guess that's okay; thanks, I guess, for helping me. Not that I need it, being awesome and independent and all. And Sweden sucks ass."

"You're welcome!" Sealand replied as he moved Ladonia's laptop to his desk and hopped in bed.

"…What are you doing?"

Sealand gave him a frown. "Going to bed. It's late."

Ladonia scoffed in surprise. "You said we'd get started right away!"

"But I just looked at the clock and it's bed time!"

"What are you: twelve?"

"No, but Mama and Papa are here and they're going to notice if I stay up way late. Then they'll take away my new phone!"

" _Good_! You've been on that damn thing ever since we got here!"

" _Because_ _I've been helping you_!"

"Sealand, I know you're still up! Go to bed right now or no phone for a week!" Finland's voice rang out from further down the hallway.

"Ugh!" Sealand threw his hands in the air and flopped down on his bed, pulling his lamp string with his foot to turn off the light. They descended in silence.

Ladonia, afraid that Sealand was mad at him for almost getting him in trouble with his parents, piped up after a while. "Hey, Sealand…thanks again…for the help. Or for the future help. 'Cause you haven't done nothing yet 'cept kidnap me. …And tomorrow, plug in my battery. Or at least turn the laptop on. I feel kinda useless when I can't even get out."

Sealand didn't answer and sighed instead.

Ladonia fidgeted guiltily. "Hey, um, I didn't mean to almost get you in trouble with your dumb parents or whatever. Just…are you mad at me?" Silence. "Sealand, are you mad at me? Sealand! Geez, I said I'm sorry, okay?" Ladonia, feeling more guilty by the minute, suddenly stopped when he heard Sealand shift on his bed.

Then jumped when said fort let out a loud snore.

"Are you for real! You fell asleep _that_ quickly? And here I was apologizing to you so much and- ugh! You're the one that's useless, not me! If I had my power back on – oh! – you would _get_ it! You know what? First thing in the morning, I'm going to go find some scissors and cut holes in all of your clothes! Then I'm going to go to your dad's clothes and cut his up, too! And blame you for it! And I'm taking your dog to my house because she's cute! And the least you could do is give me my own bed – I'm not always in a freaking laptop, you know!" Ladonia, unfortunately, continued to ramble like this to an unconscious Sealand well into the night until he finally had to stop because it was, like, four in the morning and he was tired.

Lying down parallel to the screen monitor, he sighed and rolled over to sleep, bringing up a website window to shield him from Sealand if the fort came to wake him up; Ladonia hated the feeling of being watched. He sighed and tried to dispel any uncomfortable feelings about being in an unfamiliar house. Instead, he focused on feelings of happiness and hope, that he would finally be recognized and maybe accepted by someone. He tried to stay positive, really. It was just hard when you had idiots like Sealand and the other micronations helping you. Tomorrow (or today, technically) was going to make him flip his shit with all the stupid stuff they would be doing, he could already tell.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day started just as idiotically as Ladonia had imagined.

"Okay, first things first. Color this."

"No."

"Wha-? What do you mean, 'no'? This is part of the plan."

"I don't see how something this stupid could help. This is what preschool children do. Are you trying to tell me something, punk?"

"No! What are you even talking about!" Sealand yelled in confusion as he insistently held out the hand-made paper card to Ladonia. It was part of Sealand's plan to get Sweden to recognize him – the plan had many, many parts…and one of them included a 'self-made' card to appeal to the Swede's 'parental' side. Seeing as he wasn't even Sweden's son, Ladonia didn't think the plan would pull on as many heartstrings as Sealand was hoping. Sealand flapped the card at him. "Come on, 'Donia. I even drew the hearts and stuff; all you have to do is color them in. It's not that hard!"

" _Don't_ call me that. Also, no, why would this even work. We're not family. And _don't_ say we are."

Sealand closed his mouth and shrugged. "It's like putting yourself out there as the hardened orphan who pushes everyone away but really wanted comfort all along. It's something adults like."

"You're an idiot. Movie logic doesn't apply to real life."

Sealand pointed at him with a smile. "Yes, good! Keep up that negative attitude and this'll be a synch."

" _People_ don't respond well to cynicism, _Sealand_. T.V. has rotted your brain…or what was left of it."

"Color this before I post it on the Internet and say you drew it."

"No!"

"Yes, I know how to use the scanner!"

"Fine! God!" Ladonia ripped the childish picture filled with hearts and a 'family' drawing of him, Sweden, Sealand, and Finland. Ladonia painstakingly colored in the hearts with a green color to symbolize…he didn't know – his nausea at having to do this? Sealand peeked over his shoulder.

"Why are they green? Hearts are red."

"Hearts can be whatever the hell I want them to be. These are green." He saved the 'family' picture for last, spending the most time on it. When he was done, he handed it to Sealand with a snap of his wrist. "Here."

"Good," Sealand said as he snatched it and sealed it in an envelope. "Now all we have to do is put it in our mailbox and wait for Papa to find it. When he does, and opens it, he'll be so surprised." Sealand began to grin like a girl thinking about her crush.

"Stop that; it's creepy."

"I just love when a plan comes together."

"None of your plans ever work out."

"This one will~!" Sealand sang as he skipped out of the door to place the self-made card in the mailbox. He returned after a moment and stayed staring out of the window for Sweden to come home from work. Ladonia sighed in boredom and decided to play some video games on his laptop.

They weren't waiting long before a familiar car pulled down the driveway, stopping to get the mail, (Sealand squealed and Ladonia responded by throwing a game cartridge at his head) before parking in front of the house. When Sweden left the car and walked into the house Sealand had to restrain himself from bothering his father to read the mail. As it was, he waited exactly thirty minutes before leaving the room, to Ladonia's relief (that kid could not keep still to save his own life).

Walking into the living room to see all the mail open, Sealand noted with muted excitement that Ladonia's (i.e. Sealand's) letter was already opened. He leaned on the couch. "So, Papa."

Sweden glanced up at him. "H'llo, son."

Sealand cut his eyes to the letter again. "Did you get anything interesting today? In the mail?"

Sweden picked up a newspaper he'd retrieved from the mail pile. "No."

"…" Sealand leaned forward, his eyes flickering between his father and the table. "No? Are you sure?"

Sweden didn't glance up. "Ya."

Fidgeting, Sealand picked up the letter and placed his hand to his cheek. "Oh my, look at," he waved the letter in front of Sweden's face, " _this_! Who's it from?" He turned the letter over, not really reading it, and faked a surprised face. "It's from Ladonia! What did he send you?" He pulled out the card a bit violently. "Something heartwarming, maybe?" He held out the card with a grin.

Sweden glanced at it. "I've look'd at it. Noth'ng special."

Sealand gaped at him in betrayal. "Nothing special? It looks hand-made! He probably put a lot of work in it!" Well, Sealand had, anyway.

Sweden shook his head. "He prob'bly did." Then he dared go back to reading.

Dared! Ah! Sealand held in an offended scoff and flipped the card open to look it over.

Green hearts were colored all over the card, no surprise there. But then Sealand noticed the bottom of the card where the family picture he'd drawn was. Black scribbles covered the majority of the bottom, only leaving two figures unscathed. Instead of Ladonia, Sealand, Sweden, and Finland, now there was Ladonia and…was that supposed to be Hanatamago? Really? _Really_? Ladonia'd scratched all of them out – except himself – and drawn Hana in.

"Ladoniaaa! Whyyy!"

vwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvw

"Okay. Well, that didn't work."

"Don't look at me like that. I colored your stupid picture."

"You're not cooperatiiing!" Sealand whined. "It took a lot of work to think of this plan and you ruined it on purpose!"

Ladonia resumed his game on Sealand's device. "I'm not some sissy – I don't _do_ family pictures."

Sealand pouted. "'...Cause you don't _have_ a family..."

"What'd you say, punk."

"B-But you could if you wanted, if you worked with me on my plans. I'm trying to get you recognized, you know."

Ladonia sighed and let his game character die. He tossed the game to the side. "Fine. What was your next plan? And don't let it be something as dumb as that was."

"That plan was awesome and this one will be, too. Just don't mess it up, m'kay?"

"Shut up."

"Here." Sealand pulled out his note pad and flipped it open to a sheet with a list on it. 'Plan 1' had the words 'Family Drawing' beside it and the line itself had a mark through it. "Okay, plan one was a bust, but I have a whole bunch of other ones." He pointed down the list. There were quite a few 'plans' on the list.

Ladonia sneered. "I hope you don't think these will actually work." He read down the list but barely got to plan number 4 when Sealand flipped the note pad closed.

"See? This negativity is why I didn't show you. My plans will remain a secret until we find one that works!"

"None of them will."

"Little 'Donia. Of _course_ they will." He gave the other personification a pity-pat on the head. Ladonia responded by knocking Sealand's game system off the bed entirely.

Sealand's accompanying screech was heard all through the house and made Finland jump and spill the soup he was making.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next couple of days, Sealand put into motion several plans that he (and any others) had come up with. Ladonia stayed only because he was technically being held hostage. Not because he believed any of these would work to gain him recognition from Sealand's "papa dearest". (Ladonia gagged.) Nope, of course not. No reliance on these plans at all. And whenever Ladonia would study the list in Sealand's hand, it was definitely only to prepare himself for the stupidity that followed and nothing else.

"You look excited, 'Donia."

"...Shut up, eyebrows."

**Phase #5 (Get a follower)  
** _[concept by Hetabee]_

The next phase of Sealand's plan was, apparently, to make Ladonia look like a recognized country by proving to Sweden that other countries saw Ladonia as such. Unfortunately, Sealand did not have access or knowledge of most of the phone numbers of the other countries. And Ladonia did not have any of their email addresses (well...he had Sweden's email address, but the elder nation had since blocked Ladonia's emails...he just couldn't help spamming the crap out of the big doofus). So Sealand called up his "good buddies" Wy and Seborga and told them to meet the two boys at the park near Sealand's house.

Unfortunately for Ladonia, the two micronations actually did show up.

Sealand was just recounting how "awesomely" the hero from the newest Japanese anime defeated the villain when Wy and Seborga bounced around the corner. Ladonia, laptop safely behind him, could have cried (in relief. Sort of.).

"So," Seborga smiled once they were seated, "you said we were going to help Laddy-"

"Don't call me that!"

"-get recognition from his dad-"

"He's not my dad, dumbass!"

"Ladonia, be silent!" Wy jumped in with an impatient frown.

"No, you!"

"-and we do this by showing mister Sweden that Laddy has followers?" Seborga ignored the two bickering beside him and looked to Sealand, who nodded.

"Yeah, every good nation has followers, right?" Ladonia glanced over at him, his cheek being pinched painfully by Wy. "We just need to show that 'Donia is ready to be recognized."

Ladonia succeeded in pulling his bruising cheek out of Wy's annoyed grasp. "Uh, so, what?" he asked, confused. "You guys gonna' act like you're my subordinates?"

Sealand shook his hands. "Not me – they wouldn't believe me if I followed someone else."

Wy frowned at Ladonia's growing smirk. "It's only pretend, you understand. Don't go getting a big head."

"Yeah, sure."

Seborga pulled at their arms, wanting to get started right away. The group walked to Sealand's house and settled on the front yard to begin their plan. The only thing they had to do was wait for Sweden, who was home from work, to notice them. Which he did once Sealand ran in to the house.

"Papa!"

"Mm."

"Look, outside! 'Donia came to visit!" He _dragged_ Sweden by the arm to their front window and pointed. "And, look! He brought his followers!"

He and Sweden observed the group going by the window. Meanwhile, outside, Ladonia spoke (loud enough to be heard by those in the house).

"As I am the leader of this group, and you my followers, I propose that we...uh," he faltered suddenly, not used to being in charge.

Wy stood with her arms crossed as her and Seborga (who bounced up and down eagerly while holding Ladonia's laptop) waited. She took pity on the micronation in front of her. "Maybe we should go get something to eat," she suggested.

Seborga nodded. "Oh, _si_. Let's do that!"

Ladonia struggled. "Uh...um...no."

Wy raised her eyebrow. "No?"

Ladonia cleared his throat, which seemed to restore some of his courage. "That's right – no. I'm the leader here and we do what I say. Dammit."

"Okay, _leader_ , then what do we do?"

"Uh. Um," he looked around as a thought came to him. "We go to Sealand's room."

Wy nodded. "Okay."

Sealand smiled.

Ladonia looked at Sealand in the window. "And once we get there we take it over."

Wy's jaw dropped. "What!"

" _What_!"

Sweden just nooded as if he was expecting this.

"Alright!" Seborga fist-pumped the air with a smile and a bob of his curl, and he dumped Ladonia's laptop into Wy's arms. "Total take-over of Sealand's room~!"

"Nooo!" Sealand screeched as he ran upstairs to his room to barricade the door while the others ran up the stairs to his house. They ran past Sweden (Wy only following because that's what she was "supposed" to do) without so much as a glance. Sweden watched them run past, content to listen to the goings-on. A loud pounding reached his ears a second later.

"Sealand, open the door, damn you!"

"Where did this mutiny come from!" Sealand's muffled panic was heard through the door.

"You knew this would happen. Surrender and we won't put a barrier around your imports!"

"What imports?"

"Your food!"

"What! You're going to take my food away from me?"

"Of course I am! Hey, Seborga, if you can get this door open, I'll give you all the pasta in Sealand's house."

"Really!" Sebroga's eyes sparkled at him.

"Yeah, all of it!"

"You suck, 'Donia!"

"I'm just doing what you told me to do!" Ladonia determinedly pushed against the door as Seborga cheerfully pounded against it. Wy stood behind them, watching with forbearance. Downstairs, Sweden picked up his coffee mug and went outside to drink it; it was a peaceful day.

**Phase #9 (Show that you won't be pushed around)  
** _[concept by Hetabee]_

Sealand glared at them from his bed, his legs crossed and arms folded tightly.

"You completely turned on me!"

Ladonia shrugged. He didn't know what had come over him. "Power went to my head?"

"Obviously!"

They had just sat down to rest...a _fter_ they had all barged past Sealand's door, tackled him, then had Seborga sit on him ("We win! We win, right? Can we go eat now, leader?") while Ladonia put his foot (his _nasty_ , disgusting _foot_!) on Sealand's head as Ladonia laughed. Wy just kind of sat there looking like she wished she had never came.

Wy shrugged. "You told us to follow Ladonia for the day."

Sealand waved his arms. " _Pretend_ follow!"

Wy tilted her head. "Oh, yeah."

Seborga chuckled twirling his fork in a plate full of spaghetti (Seborga didn't know how to cook, being on the Internet most of the time, so it fell to either Sealand or Wy to keep Ladonia's promise, whereas immediately Wy stated that she was still under Ladonia's rule and couldn't help out unless specifically ordered. Jerks.) "That was fun, though."

Ladonia leaned back on his hands from his position on the floor. "Yeah, it was," he said, wistfully.

"I think you're forgetting why we did this," Sealand told him with a narrowed gaze.

Seborga looked at the ceiling. "Why _did_ we do this?"

"To get _him_ recognized!"

"Haha! Oh, right!"

Sealand sighed. "You guys! At this rate, Ladonia won't be recognized by anyone!" That sobered said micronation up quickly. "We need to move on with the plans," he took out his notepad and marked out a couple of plans that he now knew wouldn't work because Ladonia could not be trusted with any sort of power, no matter how little. He studied the new list. "Hm. The next one I have is showing Papa that you can stand up to other nations."

Wy looked over at Ladonia. "That sounds a bit dangerous."

"Relax," Sealand flapped his hand at her. "It won't be any hostile country. We'll find someone nice."

Seborga's head popped up from his meal. "Mm!" He swallowed his mouthful quickly (how he didn't choke from that, Ladonia didn't know) and yelled, " _Fratello_ Italy and _fratello_ Romano and _fratello_ Spain will help! They're all nice!"

Ladonia's brows drew toward each other. "Isn't Romano the antagonistic one?"

"Not at all!"

Wy nodded to answer Ladonia's question as they both ignored the Italian. "Maybe just North Italy. I don't know Spain that well," she confessed with a frown.

"Hm," Sealand hummed, "I don't, either. I know jerk-England doesn't really like 'im from back in the day."

Seborga smiled contentedly. "I heard he chases little kids down."

They all looked at him in horror. Ladonia gave him an "are-you-stupid" look.

"Why do you hang around him, then?"

"Aw, it's just a rumor – _fratello_ Spain is really, really nice~!"

"I'm sure he is." Sarcasm galore in that one response.

Sealand cleared his throat to get them back on track. "Seborga, can you call your brother – North Italy, I mean – and get him to come up here?"

"I don't know...maaaybe if there was more pasta~?"

"Sure...?"

"Okay!" the Italian bounced up, whipping out his cell phone, and left to dial his family member. " _Ciao_ , _fratello_ Italy!" The answering squeal of words told them Seborga had contacted the right brother.

Ladonia gave Sealand a look. "You know you just got bribed by an Italian."

Sealand pouted at him. "You make it hard to remember why _I'm_ doing this."

With the promise of pasta, and lots of it, Italy Veneziano arrived at the house in record time. Sealand made sure to answer the door quickly before Sweden, who they had begged to go out and buy more pasta (no questions asked), returned and guessed that something was up. Sealand was greeted with an exuberant smile.

" _Ciao_ , I'm here! Did someone call for an Italian~?"

"Ah, hey, mister Italy. Come in, please," he said as he moved out of the doorway. The elder nation bounced past him and stopped just inside the house to ogle the inside.

"Ohhh! I've never been in mister Sweden's house before! Oh!" He bounded over to the far wall in the kitchen. "A cuckoo clock!" He turned to Sealand. "You know, Germany used to make cuckoo clocks. Well, he still does, I guess. But back then he did because he had to! Haha! Now he likes to, I think, but back then he didn't! _Ve_ ~ I don't know what France wanted with so many cuckoo clocks – do you think he just likes them to hang on his wall? He must or else why would he order Germany to make so many?" The nation continued to chatter even as Sealand left to go get the others. Thankfully, Seborga had the energy (and the motor skills) to keep up with his elder Italian family member and they matched each other word for word. Through much patience on Sealand's part (Ladonia had tried to get a word in edgewise but every time he got cut off, he became a little more enraged), they finally got Italy up to date on what they were doing and what they expected of him. The country agreed easily, like they knew he would, and all that remained was for Sweden to make it home, which didn't take long after their explanation to Italy and they watched as the car lights appeared, then slowed down to pull in to the driveway. They put their plan into action once the car lights shut off and the Swede was getting out of his car (Sealand and the other micronations hiding in the bushes outside of the house, Italy and Ladonia in the front yard).

Italy smiled at Ladonia as they stood in the front yard and said loudly, " _Ve_ ~ You need to learn your place, country of Ladonia~!"

Ladonia promptly blushed as he felt Sweden's gaze on them and thought about how stupid this must look. Nevertheless, with a chance of recognition in the balance, he played along. "You don't get to boss me around, Italy! I'm my own country and it's time you and the others recognized that!"

Italy smiled wider. "Oh, yeah?" he yelled back (with poorly concealed glee).

"Yeah!" Ladonia scowled and whispered viciously, "Stop smiling – you're freakin' ruining it!"

Italy's smile dimmed. "But I thought I was doing a pretty good job."

"No, you're not! Where did you learn how to act – the school of crap?"

"Sorry! I'm sorry!"

Ladonia flapped his hand at him. "It's your turn again – push me down so I can stand up to you."

Italy brought his hands to the front of his chest. "I-I don't think I can."

"What!"

"This was so much easier when we were only talking about it and now that we have to do it, it just seems wrong!"

Next to his car, Sweden's eyes narrowed at this ambiguous (and possibly double entendre'd) sentence.

Ladonia hissed at the poor Italian as the others in the bushes were getting antsy, knowing something was wrong. "Just push me down already!"

"I-I can't! That's so mean – what would mister Germany say?"

"He'd say you were a wimp, 'cause you are! Push me the hell down, dammit!"

"No! I'm not a bully!"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Italy! Jesus!" He walked forward, bumped into Italy, and quickly sat on the ground. "Ah, you'll pay for that, country of Italy!" This was, of course, the plan to show Sweden that Ladonia could prove himself to be a capable country by showing that he's stand up for himself (by having Italy act like a superior country). Unfortunately, not only was Italy a bad actor and an even worse liar, but he also had horrible memory.

"Oh, no!" Italy's knees hit the ground within a second. He cradled Ladonia's head (who was hissing at him more and trying to get the Italian to 'stand the hell up already, what are you _doing_!') and hollered for Sweden. "Mister Sweden! Come quick, little Ladonia fell down! He's hurt! I'm sorry!"

"I'm not hurt – go away or start acting!"

"Come, quick!"

" _Shut up, Italy_!"

"Waaah! Ladonia's mean to me because I bullied him!"

Seborga came out of the bushes at this and ran towards them. "It's okay, _fratello_! You didn't know. Ladonia will forgive you!" He began to pet Italy's head in concern as he smiled reassuringly at his distraught brother.

Ladonia, tired of lying on the grass for (apparently) no reason, sat up and stared at the two brothers. "What the heck is wrong with you two?" The Italians blinked at him, Italy pausing in his crying as Seborga stopped his pets. "You both messed it all up! Do you never think-" he roared at them as Italy resumed crying and Seborga began petting him with fervor. Sweden quietly made his way past all of them and entered his house, where he locked the front door (Sealand became slightly worried about his sleeping arrangements). "-or am I the only one gifted with _a brain_!"

"Waaah! I'm going to Germany's house!"

"Good! He's the only one who wants you!"

"La _donia_!"

" _Fratello_ , it's okay! It's okay!"

Wy sighed. "I'm going home..."

Sealand glanced from his locked house, to the three arguing (and crying) on his front yard, to Wy. "Can I sleep over?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Phase #11 (Claim your land)  
** _[concept by Hetabee]_

Sealand knew that as soon as he glanced at the next plan that things weren't going to go well. He glanced up at Ladonia. "I'm not so sure we should do this next one."

Ladonia stood from his sitting position and bent over Sealand's shoulder to look at the fort's phone. "Seems simple to me."

Sealand frowned at him, remembering yesterday. "Yeah, but you get out of control when you get a little power." He continued, mumbling as he scrolled through his cell phone again, "Helped you and you tried to conquer my room."

"Well, I was actually trying to take over your dad's house." He shrugged, unapologetic. "Your room was a means to an end."

"Do you even hear how horrible you sound right now?"

"Psh! What _ever_! You have to be tough when you're in a war."

"You're not in a war with my papa – for the last time-!"

"That bastard has what's comin' to him!"

Sealand pressed his hand to his face, now realizing how others felt about the micronations whenever the countries told his group that they were being annoying. "You're not going to get him to recognize you if you destroy him."

Ladonia paused at that, scratching his cheek. "Oh. You make a good point."

Sealand shook his head. "Anyway, to get back on track," he held out wide canvas paper to Ladonia, "you should try to draw your flag. Then we can make copies of it and hang up the fliers around different cities." Sealand looked at his art supplies (courtesy of a generous donation from Kugelmugel) and smiled. "With this, people and countries will want to see what the fliers are all about, check out your country, and BOOM! Recognition at last."

Ladonia, who had been gazing at the canvas paper, nodded. It did sound like a good plan. And one that couldn't be messed up. He then set the canvas paper on the floor and grabbed a few markers. "Let's get started, pipsqueak!"

"...Pretty sure I'm older than you."

"Shut up!"

"No, you!"

Well...maybe they would implement it after they had their scheduled fight for the day.

vwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvw

"There! Done!"

Sealand glanced to the paper being held out proudly to him. He studied the drawing. It looked like...well, green. Nothing but the color green. "Your flag is so...colorful, Ladonia," he couldn't help the sarcasm that filtered in as he said his friend's name.

"Tch!Whatever. Means kids can actually draw _my_ flag."

 _Yeah, kids like you_ , Sealand thought as he stared unimpressed at the drawing. "There's only, like, one color. How will this get people's attention?"

"Are you blind? Look," he pointed to faint (squiggly, uneven) white lines, then flapped the paper up and down. "This is the Scandinavian cross. Means I'm a legit Nordic and anyone who says otherwise can go suck it."

"Okay," Sealand agreed, mind already on something more important. "Now all we have to do is make copies." He grabbed Ladonia's hand ("Hey!") and pointed forward. "To Papa's copy machine!"

Twenty minutes and many, many wasted copies of malformed paper later ("'S'okay. I'm sure Papa can buy more ink later."), they finally had enough fliers to spread around the country.

"Hm...some of these are a little crooked..."

"Who cares. So long as they know who I am, it's fine," Ladonia said as he clutched the fliers to his chest with an excited smirk as they walked around town. When they came across a store or a light pole, Sealand would tear off a peace of the tape he carried and he would put it on the surface, allowing it float there for passersby to see. This continued for some time when Ladonia let out a sigh.

"I wish we knew if it was working or not."

"Why not find out?" Sealand asked as he sat on a bench and opened Ladonia's laptop.

"What! Where did you-! Where were you keeping that?" was the question that concerned Ladonia the most.

"Doesn't matter."

"Yes, it _does_! You didn't keep it in your-your-?" Ladonia stuttered, horrified, as he shot a glance at Sealand's lower regions.

"Here we are," Sealand said as he opened Ladonia's web page. He scrolled through the website. "I don't see many hits. Bollocks."

"Ugh! That's cause we're doing this your way. We're doing it my way now and I'll be sure to get popular. Watch and learn!" Ladonia walked away with the tape and fliers and swiped a stick from the ground near one of the city's trees.

"Ladonia, what are you-?"

The stick went into the soil with a violent jerk and Ladonia stood proudly beside it once it had been planted. "This is a flag of Ladonia!" he yelled at everyone in the square, causing many tourists and families to turn towards him. Sealand slowly shut the laptop as he watched, a mix between curious and anxious. "Get to know it because many people already do, and one day it (I) will be a great country. When that happens, Sweden will _fall_!"

People continued to stare, confused at him, as Sealand swooped forward and hurriedly shushed him, pushing him away from the square. Once he had been pushed far enough, Ladonia finally slapped Sealand's hands off him.

"What's your problem!"

"You can't just declare war on other people, especially if you're in the country surrounded by its citizens! Do you want to have an angry mob chasing you?"

"Psh! Like they could catch me."

Sealand shook his head at his friend's obstinacy and faced away. "I guess we'll have to move on to a new plan; this one didn't really work. Maybe...we should start an Internet page? A petition? More people might see it that way. Do you know any good advertisement sites, Laddy?" Silence. "Balls, he left."

Meanwhile, Ladonia was crossing over into other countries, arms full of their supplies from earlier. For every few miles of land he came across, he'd stick in his self-made flag, claim the land for the country of Ladonia, then continue walking. Though he had left the country of Sweden behind, he had run out of fliers after many hours of walking and had to walk back to Sealand's house.

Once back, he entered the house with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Now check the hits, Sealand," he gloated as he caught his breath and wiped some dirt and wet leaves from his tired face, feeling better as the warm house began to influence his chilled body. "I bet I've got a lot of support now."

Sealand looked up from his place on the living room couch, cell phone in hand. "Oh, hey, you're back."

"Yeah, I'm back. Did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah."

"So do it."

"I'm busy," he replied as he typed a text to his pal Latvia. Sweden walked out of the kitchen at that moment, having gotten home from work while Ladonia was out, and looked at them, no longer surprised that Ladonia was in his house again.

"Dinn'r will b' ready soon," he told them and he walked back into the kitchen as Ladonia hissed at him like an animal until Sweden was out of his sight.

"Good comeback, 'Donia; you'll win the war with him in no time like that."

"Shut up. I worked hard today." He would deny it with his dying breath that he became whiny and pleading at the end of that sentence. At least it got him what he wanted as Sealand looked at him again and exited from his text messages, bringing up the Internet on it and going to Ladonia's website. Ladonia walked over, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "Well? Well? How many hits do I have? A million? A trillion? The whole world?"

"Uh...nine."

" _Nine_."

"No, wait, some of those are from us. Uh...three."

"I went all over the world and I only got three people to look me up?" He sank to the floor and placed his forehead on the rug under the coffee table. A long, drawn out 'whyyy' came out of his mouth and ended with a small scream muffled by his cheeks. He felt a pat on his head as Sealand leaned over the couch to pity him at a better angle. Ladonia couldn't even get up enough energy to swat the annoying kid's hand away.

At that moment came a knock at the door and Sweden left the kitchen to answer it. Sealand looked on, curious, as the door opened to reveal Norway.

"Hey, Norway! Wassup?"

Norway nodded at them, taking in stride the crushed Ladonia on the floor, and looked back to Sweden. He held up a few bundles of sticks. "These were all over my country. Well, 38% of my country. Thought you all might know how they got there." He placed Ladonia's make-shift flagpoles in Sweden's arms. As one, the elder countries turned to give the boys a glance.

"Ah," Sealand piped up, "we were trying to get Ladonia recogn-"

"Hey! They don't need to know my business!" Ladonia said as he got to his knees, attention focusing on something else besides his failure. He pointed to his flags. "And what do you mean that they were in your country? I walked all over the continent!"

Norway tilted his head to the side. "I highly doubt that since they only reached a small distance into my home. Unless you skipped a few hundred miles?" His last sentence was drowned out by Ladonia's very loud groan.

"I didn't even make it out of Nordic territory! Ahhh!"

Sealand patted his head again and Norway turned to Sweden. "I'm not sure how to address him claiming my land in his name. I know a couple of countries would have gone after him for it. Had he made it that far. By _walking_."

"Stop focusing on that! And I was just trying to spread my name around." Well, actually, he _was_ claiming the land for himself, but Norway could be kind of scary sometimes, so he kept his mouth shut about his previous true intentions.

Sweden invited Norway into the house as he left to put the failed flagpoles out of sight. Sealand took this moment in Ladonia's pain to ask Norway to stay and have dinner with them.

"Sure, why not," he said as he walked with Sealand to the kitchen. "We'll invite my brother, too."

"And Denny!"

"Ugh."

Ladonia stayed prone on the floor. "Whyyyyyyy-" he continued to moan his situation to no one in the room as Sweden passed by him, pausing briefly to throw a blanket over Ladonia. "I'm not going to sleep down here!"

**Phase #17 (Finale)**

Ladonia hid from the Nordic family inside the house as he crept outside, knife in hand. Yesterday Sealand had informed him that they were now at the end of the list. And so far nothing had worked. So, after much thinking, Ladonia decided to 'go for broke' – as the saying is – and attack Sweden directly to force the country to recognize him. Of course, he couldn't actually attack the country, no matter how much he wanted to – the guy was a behemoth.

This was why his current plan, _sans_ Sealand, was to slowly, and secretly, destroy the country's property. If he wasn't seen, there'd be no evidence he did it, right? Ladonia would wait until Sweden was broken mentally, worried about who was destroying his stuff, then Ladonia would reveal himself and _demand_ recognition in exchange for ceasing his attacks.

He chuckled as he reached the tires of Sweden's car. Making sure he was still hidden from the outward windows, he readied the knife and plunged it into the tire with a pleased smile. This'll teach that-

FSSSSH!

Ladonia yelped as the air suddenly escaped around the knife loudly and he fell back on his posterior. Then huffed in humor at himself. That was easy.

He repeated the action to the rest of the tires until all four were deflated and the car sank down to the ground. He stared at the obviously damaged car. _Uh..._ Maybe he went too far?

Nah, it was fine. 'Desperate times,' as the saying went. He then crept to the side of the house and hid. It wasn't long before the object of his ire came out of his house, heading toward the car as he put his wallet in his pockets, only to stop short at the sight of his car a few inches lower than it should be. As Ladonia watched, Sweden stared at the deflated tires before taking a breath and turning (almost to where Ladonia was hiding).

"L'donia."

Nope, he wasn't falling for that; he'd come out of hiding when he chose to, and not a minute before then. With that thought, he smugly crossed his arms and leaned against the house walls, out of sight. Sweden waited a whole minute before going back inside the house and shutting the door.

Ha! Ladonia cackled inside his mind. He'd won this battle, and, even better, his enemy had acknowledged his attack. This was the best plan he'd ever had. And it was all his idea!

 _What should I do next?_ he thought as a familiar sensation started pulling at his skin. _Maybe break a window when he's not home or something...? I could..._ , he paused as the sensation got stronger, and he had just enough time to look at his static-looking fingers before his surroundings blinked to black. Ladonia frowned and rubbed eyes to find he was suddenly back in his laptop, the familiar surroundings lighting up around him.

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. "My battery...?" he wondered aloud, a little worried. But he thought Sealand was helping him keep an eye on that.

He began to feel irritated. That was one of the reasons he even bothered to stay here in the same house as his enemy!

Just as he was beginning to work up a good rant for the little doofus, the screen which showed the outside world lit up in front of him to show Sweden's face, with a worried and guilty-looking Sealand barely-seen in the background.

Ladonia felt his mouth fall open. He had been counter-attacked! _No_ , not only had he been counter-attacked, he had also been _betrayed_! " _Traitor_!" he screeched as he jabbed a finger in Sealand's direction, who quickly disappeared entirely from view.

"Sorry, 'Donia! You don't know how scary Papa can be when he's angry! What did you _do_ to him?"

Before Ladonia could reply further, Sweden cut their conversation short. "L'donia."

Ladonia scowled at the enlarged image in front of him and crossed his arms. "What."

Sweden leveled a stare at him. "What y' did was bad. And y' know it."

"Pft! Whatever." Well, maybe he did go a _little_ overboard. But it worked! He got Sweden's attention, after all.

"Apologize."

He gave the Swede a disbelieving smile. "What? No! I got what I want."

"And that is?"

"Uh..." he faltered at the expressionless stare coming from Sweden, "your recognition of Ladonia being an actual country..." He couldn't help but phrase the end of the sentence as a question as Sweden's eyes bore into his.

"... _That_ is what th's is about?"

Ladonia flinched and looked angrily down at the floor of his inner home.

Okay, so that had hurt.

He knew the elder country would be angry at Ladonia's actions – that was part of Ladonia's get-attention plan – but he didn't think Sweden would actually look down on him, much less admit it. He'd been working hard these past days to get recognition from the man. Working harder than he ever had before. Because getting recognized was important to him – to all of the micronations. If they couldn't get recognition as an actual country, it was as if their existence was...was _lesser_ than that of others. Like, in the end, they didn't matter.

It hurt that Sweden thought so little of his cause.

Ladonia grasped the bottom of his shirt as he glared, his bottom lip definitely _not_ wobbling and tears definitely _not_ in his eyes. His eyes remained firmly in front. He wouldn't break down in front of this asshole. That was his pride.

He heard Sweden sigh, then his surroundings lit up. Confused, he glanced to the left to see that his power cable had been plugged in, a charging symbol on the battery icon. He looked up when he registered movement in front of him. Sweden bent down so he could be eye level with the laptop screen.

"Fine. Y' got my recogn'tion."

He stared, frown frozen on his face. "...What?"

Sweden blinked slowly. "I said y' got my recogn'tion. I recogn'ze y' as a country."

"Ah..." Ladonia felt tears well up in his eyes for a different reason. He had gotten it. It had happened. "Really?"

Sweden nodded.

Ladonia suppressed a squeal. Instead, he cheered and bounced around his inner laptop surroundings. He pumped his fists in the air. "I did iiit! I got recognized as a countryyy!" His heart filled with joy and energy, and his world never looked so bright.

Sweden cleared his throat, and Ladonia paused in his revelry to look up at him.

"Now th't y' have it, would y' please stop destroyin' my house?"

Ladonia frowned. "I don't know, I'm still in a war with you."

Sweden shook his head, looked up at the far wall, then back to Ladonia. "H'w about a truce?"

"Maybe," Ladonia said as he folded his arms.

Sweden tilted his head forward. "The country of Sweden officially off'rs a cease-fire t' the country of L'donia."

Ladonia felt his heart about to burst again. _County of Ladonia_. It sounded _unreal_ to finally have that title. He could feel his eyes glow. "The country – the best country – of Ladonia accepts the cease-fire of the country – the lamest country – of Sweden. The country of Ladonia _guesses_ so."

Sweden nodded again and stood to leave. "What d' y' want for dinn'r?"

Ladonia blinked after him. Then, he transferred out of his computer surroundings to the outside world and followed after. "I wanna have whatever Sealand's most hated meal is. That little smartass betrayed me to _you_. It's like getting the middle finger while being thrown into the ocean to drown. It's embarrassing, really." Ladonia didn't notice as Sweden held the door open for him, the elder looking content, and followed him downstairs.

**End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Copied in full, as posted first on FanFiction)


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